Goodyear Tire

The estimated reductions in GHG emissions is over 114 tonnes of CO2 per year. Goodyear already has a second SolarWall system in operation in Napanee, Ontario. “The SolarWall people have done a very professional job of installing the equipment, it has been absolutely no trouble and we are projecting annual savings of $21,675 in natural gas costs alone, and we are also benefiting from reduced negative pressure in our building. I would recommend SolarWall to anyone who has a need for heated replacement air in their facility.” -Dave Hammel, CEM Maintenance Manager Goodyear, Medicine Hat

Background

Goodyear is one of the world's leading tire companies,
founded originally in 1898. Goodyear now operates 56
manufacturing facilities in 22 countries and has over
72,000 associates. It is a large multi-national corporation
that recognized early-on the importance of sustainability.
Beginning in the 1940s, Goodyear started an internal conservation
award to encourage environmentally sound soil
management. In the 1970s Goodyear established a formal
energy conservation program that began energy reduction
activities at every location. In the 1980s and
1990s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (and reduction
progress/targets) were added to annual reports. In the
2000s Goodyear conducted a corporate wide environmental
footprint analysis, with GHG emission reductions
being a primary objective.

Solution

The maintenance manager at the Medicine Hat Goodyear
Tire facility was looking at various energy saving options
when he came across the SolarWall®
air heating technology.
The system addressed their largest usage of a building
energy—ventilation heating—and also helped with the
issue of negative pressure. (Negative pressure is very
common in large industrial facilities in which more air is
exhausted than brought in.) Goodyear Tire was trying to
reduce the negative pressure in the building with natural
gas-fired makeup air units, so the SolarWall system provides
a direct energy reduction by delivering 18,000 cfm
of heated air for approximately 14 hours a day. This also
helps to reduce carbon emissions.
The Goodyear tire plant in Medicine Hat Alberta was originally
built in 1959, later expanded in 1999 to over 175,000
ft2
. The 3,000ft2
black SolarWall system was designed by
Conserval Engineering. The project management and
installation of the system was administered by Conserval’s
Alberta dealer; NRG Management.